New Hampshire Gay Men's Chorus

Member Bio: Stephen Valido, first tenor

First tenor Stephen Valido, the only remaining original singing member of NHGMC, has seen it all in the chorus! Steve joined the chorus when it was first formed in April, 1998. He resides in Hudson, New Hampshire, with his partner of nearly 13 years, NHGMC's original accompanist, Gary MacDonald. Steve works for The Nashua Telegraph — just hired there earlier this year, in Shipping and Receiving.

Steve's beautiful high-register voice nicely shores up our Tenor I section, making every chorus harmony sound really special. And with confidence in his singing talent, he has also been no stranger to solos!

"I consider it an honor to be part of a great organization like this," says Steve. "Over the years, we've always had wonderful guys in the group, including the guys we have now. The chorus has been a nice learning opportunity for me because I've learned much more about music being with NHGMC during the last thirteen years than I did during the years prior to that. I've learned how to read music better, I've learned how to sing better, and I've learned music theory. Musically, it's been a great experience for me, but I've also made some good, lasting friendships. As a group, we've had our ups and downs, but it's all worked out for the most part."

Steve's hometown is Georgetown, Massachusetts, though he also grew up in several other towns north of Boston: Lynn, Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading. His educational background is eclectic. "At Georgetown High School, I started taking high school business courses till I quit school in 1969 to run my family's laundry and dry-cleaning business for several years. Later, I got my GED at the age of 32. I've taken some college courses at Northern Essex Community College, though I don't have a degree." Over the years, Steve has held jobs in Electronics as well as in the retail industry.

Steve has loved singing since early childhood. "I grew up singing in all the children's and young adult choirs at my hometown church, including the senior adult choir by the time I was 18 years old. Eventually, at the age of 51, I took voice lessons for four years with a voice teacher in Nashua."

In early childhood, Steve played the organ, and since he was 15 years old, Steve has played the drums and other percussion instruments. "My mother had an organ in our home. I started just playing different things on the organ — didn't take any lessons — and one day I was listening to the Beatles album, Revolver, and I just got really interested in the beat. For some reason, the drum part in one song, Tomorrow Never Knows, just mesmerized me. And that was how my interest in the drums started. Plus I had a cousin who was already playing the drums, so I ended up with his old drum kit when he got a new one! I also decided that I wasn't going to take any lessons, that I was going to teach myself how to play. Every day I came home from school determined to practice diligently for at least three hours — and so I learned it on my own."

Steve has played percussion in various bands in the past, but says he would someday like to form his own band. "If I can get another set of drums, I would love to form a group that plays top 40 songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s — the kind of stuff that I knew."

Steve has also sung in some theater productions. "I was in and out of a couple of theater groups, a few theater productions in the 1990s. I sung in a rock and roll revival with a friend of mine in a production company that started up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, then in a Christmas production. With another friend, I joined another theater group, the Pentucket Players, also in Haverhill. In that group, we did The Wiz. I sang in these productions but didn't have any acting parts."

Why and how did Steve join NHGMC in 1998? "At the time I had a roommate, and he was asked to join the chorus when it was first starting up. But after he declined, he referred it to me — and the rest is history! I had never been in a four-part men's chorus. I had participated in many choruses prior to that, and I had played in bands, but singing in a four-part chorus seemed like it would be more interesting and challenging — plus a chorus being gay made it even more interesting!"

How was NHGMC formed? "There was a group of men who had met three to six months before the group actually started, talking about what they had envisioned for this group, then a charter was drawn up. I wasn't one of the members that actually signed the charter, but I was one of the original members in 1998! Out of that first group, there were approximately twelve of us singing members, and out of that twelve, I am the only one left now."

"The first few years were really good… Over the years, we've had our ups and downs, with a few personality clashes when a few individuals didn't see eye to eye, but it's all worked out well… In 1998, our original director was Rodney Mansfield. He was a school teacher, and he had performed in theater. He also had a beautiful bass voice. Sadly, he just passed away in June. He was 80, but was a very active man and knew so much about music. Our original accompanist — my partner, Gary — also knew a lot about music, being a classical pianist. During that first year, in June, we performed one concert at Veterans park in Manchester during their gay pride celebration. Then from the fall of 1998 to the spring of 2000, we did two concert series per year, until Luc Roberge and Gary Finger came in as director and accompanist later that year."

Steve actually met his partner, Gary, when Steve originally joined NHGMC as a singer in 1998. "We live kind of a quiet life. Gary is the total opposite of me. He's a quiet, reserved, private individual."

Steve spoke fondly about NHGMC's shared performances with the Pioneer Valley Gay Men's Chorus of Northampton, Massachusetts, in the Spring of 2000: "The Northampton chorus was interested in doing some selections in a concert with us. They visited us in one of our concerts in New Hampshire, and we traveled down to Northampton to perform in one of their concerts. It was really nice. They did one half, we did one half, and we did some selections together. It was the last concert series Rodney and Gary participated in as director and accompanist. They were a nice group of men, nice singers, and they put on such nice concerts."

Steve just took up the hobby of meditation this past year. "I meditate in my free time to learn how to relax… Through meditation, which I've just started doing, I am able to see things in a new perspective. I have been able to resolve a lot of childhood issues, and I have been able to move on in my life in a number of ways." Another major interest is reading. "I love to read, and especially love reading biographies." Steve's favorite types of music are aggressive rock, classical, and some new wave. Steve loves comedy, and his favorite movie is the 1996 comedy, The Birdcage. His favorite musical is Les Miserables. His favorite meal of the day is breakfast. His favorite type of food is Chinese. His favorite color is blue.

Steve's favorite NHGMC moment is the same favorite as several others who were chorus members back in 2004: "When we made history as the first openly gay chorus to get invited by Walt Disney World to sing at Disney's Epcot Center on June 5, 2004. We were at Disney for a week, and we had a great time!" Another favorite moment was when NHGMC performed with the Pioneer Valley Gay Men's Chorus in 2000.

On his solos: "I have had a lot of solos throughout my life, singing in my home church, in the children's choirs and in the adult choirs. I also had a lot of solo parts in the theater groups. I've had quite a few solo parts in NHGMC, though I haven't done a full solo in a few years. For me, it's always nice to see if there are other men in the chorus who can sing a solo — some of the newer guys who have never sung a solo. I enjoy listening to the nice voices of other members."

On NHGMC's future, Steve believes strongly that the chorus should continue to perform a healthy variety of music. "We've done a lot of different types of concerts, from a 70s revival to an "NC-17 restricted" theme to classical to Jerome Kern and Cole Porter compositions — just a mish-mash of different things. We try new and different things each season, and that's what I like about Luc. He is not afraid to try different things and present a good variety. If you stay in the same music genre, it tends to get boring after a while!"

"I hope the group continues on, I hope we're together for many years to come, and I hope I'm part of it for many years to come. I'd like to see us branch out more and do an additional concert occasionally — maybe get back to singing with other choruses… I'd love to be able to get back down to Disney again or somewhere else if another opportunity opens up. It would be great to fly out to other parts of the country and perform — just doing different things to keep the chorus going, to keep the interest up."

One thing most people don't know about Steve: "Even though I'm an outgoing person, I do have a very serious side to myself!"

The main theme that's governed Steve's life: Personal growth. "I believe you have to live life at its fullest, as much as possible, because we are only here for a short time. We have many lessons to learn, and we are always tested. And hopefully, with the many experiences we have, with the things we achieve, we grow and get stronger as human beings and move on."

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